'Basic levels of care not being met' in Notts nursing homes

A SENIOR health inspector says she is concerned over the number of failing care homes in Notts.

Carolyn Jenkinson, from health regulators the Care Quality Commission, was in charge of the inspectors who recently shut St Andrew's Lodge, in Riber Crescent, Basford, after reports of the neglect of elderly patients.

And she said that there are "a lot" of homes in Notts that are not meeting the basic standards – more than in other parts of the country.

Speaking in light of the recent home closure which will see more than 40 elderly people moved out, she said: "When you look across Notts, including the city, there are a lot of homes that are what we call 'not compliant'.

Related content

"What the public don't quite realise is that we are assessing basic levels of care. And it's these basic levels that are not being met."

In the last 12 months more than 150 vulnerable, elderly residents with complex problems have had to be removed for their own safety from three homes.

Those homes are Autumn Grange in Sherwood Rise, currently subject to a manslaughter investigation, Landmere Nursing home in Clifton and Spring Lane in Lambley.

St Andrew's Lodge – run by Methodist Homes – is the fourth home that can now be added to this list.

The Care Quality Commission said it had a "high level" of concern about what its inspectors saw, and yesterday the Post revealed that elderly residents at St Andrew's Lodge had been given sleeping tablets when they didn't need them.

Asked about this, Ms Jenkinson, who is also a qualified nurse, said: "From what my inspectors saw, residents seemed more subdued and sleepy than when we visited previously.

"Medicine records were also not kept accurately."

She said problems with the home were first flagged up in May when it was due for its annual inspection.

Since that time the health regulator admitted it had received letters and phone calls of complaint from concerned relatives.

Yesterday crisis meetings were held with relatives of residents at St Andrew's Lodge and nurses from Notts Healthcare NHS Trust – the body which provides local mental health services – agreed to step in and offer support to the residents who need to be re-homed.

As of yesterday, no residents had actually found alternative accommodation.

David Reader, of Bodmin Drive, Aspley, whose 103-year-old mother Elizabeth is being looked after at the home, said he was concerned that the upheaval would affect his mother's health.

He said: "When I went to the home I used to see that the staff themselves were frightened to talk."

A spokesman for Methodist Homes, which runs more than 90 homes across the country, admitted it had "underestimated a number of deep-rooted problems within the culture and working practices of this home".

Martin Gawith, chairman of Healthwatch Nottingham – which campaigns for better health care for the people of Nottingham – said: "Regrettably this action, which is a last resort, has been considered necessary to safeguard the home's 44 very vulnerable residents.

"We understand there is a comprehensive plan in place which seeks to ensure that the care needs of residents are appropriately met and that they and their families are well informed to help minimise any distress."

MORE than 150 of the most vulnerable and elderly people in Notts have had to be urgently re-homed in the last 12 months because they were found to be living in care homes offering unacceptable standards of care.

Shutting a home down is described as a "last resort" for health regulator the Care Quality Commission, but the latest home which has forced the watchdog into such drastic action is St Andrew's Lodge, in Riber Crescent, Basford.

Inspectors have been reviewing the home since May and Methodist Homes, which runs the site, was unable to make the improvements.

A litany of failures have been disclosed by the Care Quality Commission, inspectors describing shocking scenes such as residents left in their own faeces and staff giving sleeping drugs incorrectly.

One member of staff who used to work at St Andrew's Lodge contacted the Post and wished to remain anonymous.

She said: "The home was massively understaffed.

"We needed at least 14 more staff across the whole home to make sure people were getting the standards they deserve.

"We've had members of staff leave work in tears because they weren't able to fulfil their role properly. You get attached to these residents and you feel like you've let them down.

"We needed more hands."

A manager at the Care Quality Commission, Carolyn Jenkinson, told the Post that she thought Notts had a greater problem than in other areas.

She said: "There is no direct comparison I can make, but you just have to look at the reports that we are producing for that area – I don't think it's as much in other places."

Glenise Martin, 76, of The Nottingham Elders' Forum, a group that campaigns for the rights of the elderly, agreed.

She said: "I do feel as though we have a big problem in Nottingham. I wasn't surprised when I heard another home was closing.

"It's happening again and again. I am glad I am not in a home yet."

Despite having two homes within the city boundaries which have recently had to close – St Andrew's Lodge and Autumn Grange' in Sherwood Rise (which is subject to a manslaughter investigation) – the city council said it was unable to comment on Ms Jenkinson's remarks.

However David Hamilton, service director for personal care and support for older people at Notts County Council, said the "majority of homes are well run and offer good standards of care".

But sadly this isn't experience shared by Tom Rowberry, 74, of Radcliffe-on-Trent, who said he was shocked and appalled when he picked up a telephone call from Landmere Nursing Home to inform him that his wife may have been subject to abuse, in a case which is currently going through the courts, after a carer was recently charged with five counts of willful neglect.

Neither is it the experience of grieving widow Maureen Pycroft of Ruddington Lane, Wilford, who made seven formal complaints about the care her husband David Barry Pycroft received while staying in the same home. Some of the complaints were upheld.

Or distraught son Stephen Jukes, 56, who returned from a trip to Bulgaria, where he was building a house, to discover staff at Landmere Nursing Home, Wilford, had not even told him his mother was dead.

Figures unearthed by the Post also show that both the city and county councils are cutting their adult and social care budgets, which includes money spent on care homes.

Notts County Council spent £219 million on adult social care in 2011/12, equivalent to 40.2 per cent of the budget. This is now £217 million in 2013/14, 36.7 per cent of the £590 million budget.

In the city, the adult social care budget has dropped in recent years from £107.9 million in 2011/12 to £105.6 million in 2013/14.

However, not all adult social care spending goes to funding care homes. A considerable proportion of the funding will go on day-service provision and promotion of independent living outside of homes.

Mr Hamilton, added: "Improving care services in the county is a key priority for the county council.

"There are 178 care homes for older people in Nottinghamshire and the vast majority are well run and offer good standards of care for their residents. Where there are significant concerns about a local care home we work with the Care Quality Commission, health colleagues and the provider to ensure these issues are addressed."

The homes that have closed after inspectors uncovered poor standards of care are:

Autumn Grange, in Sherwood Rise – shut down in November 2012 by Care Quality Commission inspectors amid a police investigation which saw no less than 11 people arrested on suspicion of manslaughter. All were bailed, and investigations continue.

Landmere Nursing Home, in Wilford – shut down in June 2012, again amid a police investigation which recently saw carer Antonia Adeniyi, 38, of Beverley Square, St Ann's, charged will five counts of willful neglect. Her trial is due next year.

Spring Lane, in Lambley – shut down in October 2012. A Post probe revealed that there had been more than 30 allegations of abuse to authorities before the home was shut down amid a police investigation into the death of an 87-year-old woman. A legal battle between the home and the victim's family is ongoing, and an inquest is yet to happen.

St Andrew's Lodge, in Riber Crescent, Basford - shut down this month following a series of damning inspections.

4 comments

That's true wortho48! Compassion, love and person-centred caring and the right number of staff should be the main goal of all healthcare facilities. Unfortunately care homes and even hospitals are always understaffed and people still expect quality of care.

Until homes are run on caring combined with compassion and bundles of love and not certificates nothing will ever change you can have certificates from the city centre to London but if there is no compassion and love to go with them they are just worthless scraps of paper .

It's sad that St. Andrews Lodge is closing. I just been hired and didn't even know that they were under investigation. The interim manager just told me they need someone like me who has NVQ 3 in Health and Social care. They even hired a new manager. I can't really comment much about the home as a whole as I was only assigned in one unit but I believe the management really tried to improve the system. I just wished they were given more time by the CQC to hire the right people. Most of the residents have dementia and moving them to a different environment will be very difficult for them. They've lived there for years and moving them means that memories are being taken away from them. Anyway, who am I to question CQC? I just feel sad for the staff and residents.

A friend of mine told me about a Care Home near Newark where the staff cancel the alarm buzzer because it interfered with their texting on their mobiles, The Manager allows staff to use their mobile phones while looking after the residents.